Lai Chi-wai became the first person in Hong Kong to climb over 250 meters of a skyscraper, tied and in a wheelchair while pulling himself for more than 10 hours. He did so to raise money for patients with spinal cord diseases. Here are some pictures:
The 37-year-old climber, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident 10 years ago, failed to reach the top of the 300-meter Nina Tower on the Kowloon peninsula. But it was a win nonetheless.
“I was quite scared,” Lai said. “Climbing up a mountain, I can hold onto rocks or little holes, but with glass, all I can really rely on is the rope that I’m hanging off,” Lai Chi-wai told Reuters.
The event raised HK$5.2 million ($670,639) in donations.
Before 2011, Lai was crowned Asian champion four times in rock climbing and, at one point, was in eighth place in the world ranking.
After his accident, he went back to climbing, securing his wheelchair to a system with pulleys.
Five years ago, he climbed the 495 meters of Lion Rock Mountain, a symbol of local popular culture of Hong Kong’s strength and courage.
“Apart from just living, I wondered what drives me? So I began to chase that, knowing that there was a possibility I could climb mountains, even in a wheelchair,” Lai said.
“In a way, I forgot that I was a disabled person, I could still dream and I could still do what I liked doing,” he added.
Although he did not reach the top of the skyscraper, worried about his safety, Lai hopes to have sent a message.
“Some people don’t understand the difficulties of disabled people, some people think that we are always weak, we need help, we need assistance, we need people’s pity,” Lai said.